Regional Transit after Federal Way Link

Federal Way Link will not only connect Federal Way with other Link destinations but it will make it much easier to provide regional transit. Unlike other stations south of downtown, Federal Way Link has an excellent interface to the I-5 HOV lanes. Buses will be able to easily serve it from both directions. The following is a proposal for a new network once that happens.

Current Regional Transit

Sound Transit provides most of the regional service for the South Sound, shown on their map. Sounder provides mostly peak service (i. e. to Seattle during morning rush hour, away from Seattle during evening rush hour). The buses are a mix of peak-only and all-day half-hour service. Sound Transit was planning on running the 594 and 577/578 every 15 minutes, but this fell victim to the driver shortage.

Federal Way Link

Federal Way Link will offer another way for riders to get to Downtown Seattle. Those who live south of Federal Way will be able to transfer to Link instead of taking a direct express bus (like the 594). Unfortunately, this would be slower than Sounder and considerably slower than a bus in the middle of the day (when Sounder is not running). By my calculations (shown below) it would be more than fifteen minutes slower to transfer to Link, not counting the wait time. I am proposing instead a combination of Sounder and express buses:

Sounder

Sounder provides a comfortable and consistent trip that is often faster than an express bus. It is also faster than taking a bus and transferring to Link. It only runs during peak, but for Tacoma (and places south) that is the only time it is faster than a bus. Sounder is also expensive to operate and unlike most transit, becomes increasingly expensive (per trip) the more it operates. BNSF owns the tracks and the more trips the train makes, the larger the burden on them (and the more they will charge us). Ridership during peak is down from before the pandemic, but remains reasonably good. In contrast, midday ridership and reverse peak ridership is low and has always been low. Improving frequency during peak (e. g. running trains every 15 minutes instead of 20) might very well be worth it. Outside of that period though, buses are a better option.

Proposed Bus Network

With that in mind, I propose something a bit unusual. During peak, the buses from Tacoma (and places to the south) would only go to Federal Way. Outside of peak the buses would stop at Federal Way but then continue to Seattle. Thus riders would take Sounder during peak and a direct express bus outside of peak (as they do today). They would have the opportunity to transfer in Federal Way if they are headed to the airport, Rainier Valley or some other Link destination. This is what I propose for the existing routes serving Federal Way, Tacoma, Lakewood and Dupont:

• Eliminated: 574*, 577, 586
• Peak only service now truncated in Federal Way: 590, 592, 595
• The 594 (which does not run during peak) would stop at Federal Way but keep going. Frequency would increase to every 15 minutes all-day and evening.

For other South Sound destinations, it is a little trickier. While I'm sure several riders would love to see the 578 continue to run to Seattle, it is harder to justify given the relatively low ridership outside Federal Way. It is also worth noting that many of the Sounder Stations have little in the way of fast, direct connections to Downtown Seattle outside of peak. I propose a combination of service to Link and all-day service along part of the the Sounder corridor:

• 578 - Truncated at Federal Way.
• 588 - New express bus connecting Auburn, Kent, Tukwila and Downtown Seattle. Runs when Sounder doesn't.

This means riders from Puyallup and Sumner would have to transfer to get to Seattle, either via Link or the 588 express bus. The 578 and 588 could be timed to work together. Riders from Auburn would could get to Link via the 578, whereas riders from Kent and Tukwila would use Metro service to get to Link. I think fifteen minutes service on the 578 and half hour service on the 588 seems possible, and a big improvement over what they have now.

Travel times from Westlake to Tacoma Dome:

	Westlake - SeaTac (Link):	38 Minutes
	SeaTac - Federal Way (Link):	15 minutes
	Federal Way - Tacoma Dome (bus):	18 minutes
	Total Link+bus:	71 minutes
	4th & Pine - Tacoma Dome (bus only):	53 minutes
	Time saved by the bus-only alternative:	18 minutes

* Update: I forgot to mention that early morning trips to the airport would still be necessary. This is when the 574 gets the bulk of its riders and transferring to Link would not be an option at that hour (since it doesn't operate that early).